Production and treatment of textile fabrics



Patented May 14, 1940 PRQDUCTION AND TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Donald Finlayson and Joseph Rowland Wylde, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application June 1, 1938, Serial No. 211,217. In Great Britain August 24, 1937 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the production and treatment of textile fabrics and particularly to the production and treatment of textile fabrics exhibiting crpe effects.

5 The us'ual method of manufacturing fabrics exhibiting crpe effects is to weave a fabric consisting wholly or in part of yarns of high twist and to subject the fabric so obtained to treatment with hot aqueous liquors. The treatment with hot aqueous liquors causes the high twist yarns to shrink' and cockle, thus imparting to the fabric the characteristic crepe appearance. In the case of fabrics which consist only partially of high twist yarns, such high twist yarns are usually evenly disposed in the fabric, e. g. the weft may consist whollyof high twist yarns while the warp consists wholly of yarns of ordinary low twist.

In consequence, crepe fabrics as ordinarily produced exhibit a crepe effect which is uniform all over their surface.

The treatment with hot aqueous liquors is generally referred to as the creping operation and is so referred to hereinafter in this specification.

Similarly, the hot aqueous liquor employed in the crping operation is generally referred to as the cre ping bath and will therefore be referred to by this term in the present specification.

According to the present invention differential crepe effects are produced by locally applying a water-insoluble film-forming substance to a fabric which contains highly twisted yarns, and which is adapted to crepe on treatment with the crping bath, before subjecting the fabric to the action of the crping bath. In this way those parts of the fabric to which the water-insoluble film-forming substance has been applied are wholly or partially prevented from crping under the action of the crping bath.

The fabrics treated according to the invention may be any which, due to the presence of high twist yarns, areadapted to crepe on treatment with hot aqueous liquors. The fabrics may contain yarns of any material, e. g. of natural textile materials such as wool, cotton and silk, and

of artificial materials such as cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose or regenerated cellulose. The fabrics may contain yarns of more than one of these materials. The twist in the high twist yarns may have been inserted by any process but it is preferable, especially where the high twist yarns have a basis of cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose, that the high twist should have been inserted in the yarns by a process wherein at least the last part of the twist is inserted while the yarns are under the influence of .steam, preferably moist steam, or hot water. In this connection reference is made to U. S. Patents Nos. 2,088,628, 2,088,587 and 2,089,191.

Water-insoluble film-forming, substances of 5 particular value'for the purpose of the present invention are cellulose derivatives, e. g. cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate and other cellulose esters, ethyl ce llulose, benzyl cellulose and ether-esters of cell0 lulose, and mixed ethers, mixed esters and etheresters of cellulose, and synthetic resins, e. g. urea-formaldehyde resins, phenol-formaldehyde resins and vinyl resins. Among other substances which may be employed may be mentioned waxes, i5 e. g. paramn wax, ceresin, beeswax and the like, fats, oil's, particularly drying oils, higher fatty acids and higher fatty acid anhydrides.

Instead of applying the water-insoluble filmforming substances themselves to the materials such substances may be formed in or on the materials by applying to the materials component substances which react together to form the desired substance. This process is of particular value where synthetic resins are employed. Thus, for example, a urea-formaldehyde resin may be formed in or on the materials by applying to the materials a solution of urea and formaldehyde and effecting the condensation on the fabric. Or, again, urea may be applied to the fabric and $0 the fabric then subjected to the action of formaldehyde gas. Another method of forming a water-insoluble synthetic resin on the fabric isto form a low molecular condensation product of the component of the synthetic resin and to effect polymerisation of such condensation products on the fabric. Thus, for example, dimethylol urea, which is a low molecular condensation product of urea and formaldehyde, may be applied locally to the fabric and this substance further polymerised so in the fabric. Or, again, vinyl acetate maybe applied to the fabric and polymerised in the fabric.

The water-insoluble film-forming substances, or the components adapted to combine together to form such substances, may be applied to the fabric in solution in organic solvents but care must be taken, especially when treating fabrics which contain threads of organic derivatives of cellulose, that the solvent medium has not a deleterious effect on the threads of the fabric treated. The solvents employed maybe hydrocarbons, e. g. benzene and toluene, chlorinated hydrocarbons, e. g. monochlorbenzene, dichlorbenzene, perchlorethylene and carbon tetrachloride, ketones, e. g. acetone and methyl ethyl 5e.

I ketone, esters, e. g. ethyl acetate, alcohols, e. g.

methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol and other well known solvents for cellulose derivatives, resins, waxes and the other waterinsoluble film-forming substances referred to above.

A convenient solution in which to apply cellulose acetate to the materials is, for example, one of the following composition:-

Parts by weight Acetone-soluble cellulose acetate 100 Acetone 350 Ethyl lactate 150 Xylene 200 Methylated spirits 185 Benzyl alcohol This-solution may be printed on all types of fabrics including fabrics containing cellulose acetate yarns.

.The water-insoluble film-forming substances, or components of such substances, may be applied to the fabric by any suitable method of local application, e. g. by printing rollers, by engraved plates, by means of stencils, by screen printing, for example with a silk screen, and by spraying, for example by means of a compressed air operated spraying pistol.

substance to the fabric, the fabric may be dried to remove any volatile solvent which may be present and may then be subjected to the crping operation. The crping bath may be any of the usual crping baths employed in the past for effecting the crping operation. A suitable bath is a dilute soap solution maintained at a temperature of 75-85 C. or at a higher temperature, e. g. at the boiling point. Hot dilute solutions of other substances may also be employed, e. g. a hot dilute solution of disodium hydrogen phosphate.

If desired the fabrics may be scoured at a low temperature, under such conditions that crping does not occur, prior to the local application of the cellulose derivative or other substance. However, the application of the cellulose derivative or other water-insoluble substance is preferably After the application of the cellulose derivative or other film-forming.

effected before any such low temperature scouring operation.

After the crping operation the water-insoluble substance may, if desired, be removed from the fabrics. If it is intended to remove the waterinsoluble substance after the crping operation, it is convenient to select, in the first place, a water-insoluble substance which can readily be removed by commercial dry-cleaning operations.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1

1. Process for the production of fabrics exhibiting differential crepe effects, which comprises forming fabrics which contain highly twisted artificial yarns and which are capable of acquiring a crpe appearance on treatment with hot aqueous liquids, locally applying to said fabrics a solution of a derivative of cellulose in a solvent medium comprising acetone, ethyl lactate, xylene, denatured alcohol and benzyl alcohol, drying the fabrics to remove the volatile solvent content from the applied solution whereby a water-insoluble film is locally formed on the fabric, subjecting the fabrics to the actid'n of hot aqueous liquids so as to cause the untreated portions of the fabrics to crpe without affecting the treated portions of the fabrics, and thereafter removing cellulose derivative film from the fab- 2. Process for the production of fabrics ex hibiting differential crepe effects, which comprises forming fabrics which contain highly twisted artificial yarns and which are/capable of acquiring a crpe appearance on treatment with hot aqueous liquids, locally applying to said fabrics a solution of cellulose acetate in a solvent medium comprising acetone, ethyl lactate, xylene, denatured alcohol and benzyl alcohol, drying the fabrics to remove the volatile solvent content from the applied solution whereby a water-insoluble film is locally formed on the fabric, subjecting the fabrics to the action of hot aqueous liquids so as to cause the untreated portions of the fabrics to crpe without affecting the treated portions of the fabrics, and thereafter removing cellulose acetate film from the fabrics.

DONALD FINLAYSON. JOSEPH ROWLAND WYLDE. 

